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tv   CBS Evening News  CBS  December 29, 2013 6:00pm-6:31pm PST

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test. >> jeff: tonight russian blast, a suicide bomber targets a train station leaving more than a dozen dent a month and a half before the sochi olympics. holly williams has our report. bitter cold temperatures settle in over the midwest. and a new storm is approaching this week. a nationwide manhunt is over. don dahler on the bank robber and suspected cop killer whose run ended in arizona. and they made history in world war ii but they ever quite made the history books. carter evans paying tribute to trail blazers. >> they can be astronauts, they can be pilots. and these women really paved the way for them. captioning sponsored by cbs
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this is the "cbs evening news" >> good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor with a western edition of the broadcast. the olimics in sochi russia are six weeks way which is why tonight there is so much attention focused on a horrific attack inson portion of the country today. a suicide bomber killed at least 16 after setting off a bomb inside a central train station. with more on what happened and what we know here's holly williams. >> reporter: a security camera captured the explosion that tore through volume go grad train statio station-- volume go grade strain station. when the bomber detonated the 20 pound device the station was packed with people. victims were killed by flying shrapnel in a massive blast that blew out the building's doors. this woman had a narrow escape when she left the station just moments before the bomb went off. >> i saw people running, she said. human flesh all around.
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shattered glass and broken doors. i saw smoke but i didn't understand what was going on. no one group has claimed responsibility yet. but many in russia suspect islamic insurgents from chechnya and dagestan. in july a chechen rebel leader called for more terror attacks on civilians including during the sochi olympics. he erj -- urged his followers to use maximum force to stop the games taking place. today was the second suicide attack in volgograd in just over two months. in october another female bomber blew up a bus killing six people. but the russian government insists there won't be any security problems in sochi. its promise they will be the safest olympics in history. >> jeff: holly williams joins us from our london bureau. the safest olympics in history, holly, given what happened today, how realistic is that promise? >> well, jeff, the olympics
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are being held close to a region where the russian government has been fighting islamic rebels now on and off for 20 years so that is clearly a problem. but these olympics are really important for russia's image. so the authorities have brought in some of the tightest measures ever seen at a sporting event. a 60 mile security zone, over 50,000 security personnel. and all spectators will have to go through an identity check. >> holly williams, thank you. >> today much of the midwest is in a dangerous deep freeze. temperatures well below zero in spots. an arctic air blowing in from the west is adding to the misery. in international falls it was 25 below zero. holly wagner is with our minneapolis station wcco. >> reporter: the deep freeze brought winter warnings and advisories across the upper midwest. it was -12° at 8 a.m. in duluth so a local ski resort and skating rink decided it was too dangerous to open to the public. in the downtown duluth 9
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entrance to a hotel collapsed under the weight of the snow. no one was hurt. the coldest air of the season so far is bringing around the clock subzero temperatures to the region on the final days of the year. northern minnesota and north dakotah are under winter warnings with temperatures ranging from minus 30 to negative 50 degrees, it was a mild 47 degrees in the twin cities on saturday but today's high was minus 1. >> i can't feel my nose. >> i have my eyes fishing gear on and it's awesome. >> reporter: but the wind and bitter cold didn't stop 64,000 fans from attending today's vikings-lions game at metrodom stadium. >> with the windchill it felt like 21 below zero at the stadium this afternoon. today's game marked the last time fans will be able to enter the stadium before it's torn down. that process starts next month, to. >> holly wagner reporting. >> jeff: with more now on that deep freeze and what
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else is happening around the country, we're joined by meteorologist lauryn casey of wcco, lauryn? >> jeff, the coldest air of the season has arrived in the upper midwest. we're here in minneapolis, the temperature below zero all day. with the arctic blast wind gusts of 50 miles per hour reported, and the last 24 hours driving windchill temperatures down to about 25 to 50 degrees below zero and this cold air will move east driving high temperatures down in places like chicago into the teens by tomorrow. and eventually on the east coast new year's eve and times square will be a chilly one with temperatures at 20 degrees right around midnight. also in the east a heavy snow event taking place tonight will bring 4 to 8 inches of snowfall and probably cause wide spread power outages in parts of new england that already experience a recent ice storm. >> jeff: also quickly i want to shift out west, where the threat is high winds, what is happening there. >> yeah, high wind event causing concerns especially in southern california where the santa ana winds are kick
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up today and tonight bringing wind gusts possibly to 60 miles per hour to places like los angeles, that is a concern for fire weather danger. >> jeff: all right, lauryn casey from wcco, thank you very much. it's been months of bad news for the white house after the disastrous rollout of healthcare.gov. but tonight the administration says they have good news. 1.1 million americans have enrolled for health insurance coverage. the vast majority in just the last week. chip reid is traveling with the president in hawaii. >> for president obama vacationing in hawaii, it was the best health-care news he's received in months. administration officials call it a welcome surge of 975,000 people signing up for health insurance coverage in december. that compares to only 125,000 signups in october and november combined, largely the result of a disastrous start for the health care.gov web site. on the sunday talk shows democrats predicted the number will continue to improve. former vermont democratic
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governor howard dean is also a doctor. >> i think the first year is going to be more successful than most people think. i think will you have a lot of people that have insurance that sdrnt it before. i think will you get people who have access and it's going to be cheaper. not for everybody. >> reporter: this week democrats and outside groups that support the health care law plan to rollout a new campaign on health reform successes, highlighting people who are pleased with their new health-care plans. but that campaign will only work if it's not overwhelmed by more stories of confused and angry health care consumers, after coverage takes effect on january 1st. some who signed up say they received no confirmation and no receipt and worry about whether they're really covered. republican congressman darryl issa is a leading critic of the law. >> unfortunately it's a failed program that is taking a less than perfect health-care system from the standpoint of cost and making it worse. so the damage that obamacare has already done and will do on january 1st, second and
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third will have to be dealt with as part of any reform within the next deline for signing up for health-care reform is the end of march. ot bama administration hopes to have a total of 7 million signed up by then. so it's 1 million down, 6 million more and a very long way to go. >> jeff? >> jeff: chip reid, thank you. >> the fbi says investigators have linked a suspect killed by phoenix police to a string of bank robberies in three states. the man who served four years in the army was also wanted for the murder of a mississippi police officer. here's don dahler. >> reporter: the witness in a restaurant drive-thru who tipped off police about the masked suspect going into a bank had no idea the series of events his phone call brought to a close. when police responded 40-year-old mario edward garnet emerged from the bank with a bag of money and a handgun. into a rental car an opened fire on officers. >> five explosion, kind of like a big flat tire. >> what did it sound like.
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>> it sounded like boom, boom,. >> reporter: steve lopez lives across the street. >> a detective working near the bank shot garnet who was pronounced dead near the scene. it wasn't until the fbi compared the former soldier's coating, statements and cell phone records that they realized a violent nationwide crime spree had come to an end. it started at 9:30 monday morning when police say garnet tried to hold up a bank of america in atlanta. after failing to get money from the teller, he robbed a person at the atm machine in the bank lobby. six hours later and 300 miles from atlanta, surveillance if the owes show him robbing a bank of tupelo, mississippi, when officers pursued him there was a shoot-out killing corporal stauffer wounded officer ma her, he disappeared until yesterday when he turned up 1500 miles away in phoenix. on friday hundreds of mourners lined the streets of tupelo to honor corporal stauffer. >> this is a senseless tragedy. we wanted to come and show
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our respects. officer maer is expected to recover. >> jeff: tonight we are told seven time formula one champion michael schumacher is in drit call condition following a skiing accident in the french alps. schumacher who is 1 --44 years old was airlifted to a hospital in gren only after crashing and hitting his head on a rochblingt he was wearing a helmet. along the baja, california peninsula a large portion of mexico's scenic high bay is gone. photos show a cracked and crumbled road in a large section coulds lad, about 300 feet not cliffside. authorities blame a series of small earthquakes. one truck driver was trapped but escaped without injury. it is unclear when the highway will reopen. it was a drama on the north sea, rescue helicopters were scrambled after a fire broke out on a ferry car heeeing more than a thousand passengers from newcastle, england, to amsterdam. at least six people were hoisted from the boat to be
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treated for smoke inhalation. 15 passengers and eight crew members also suffered spoke related injuries. the fire was contained quickly and the ferry returned to port early this morning. two people had been arrested in connection with that fire. >> stock markets have had a banner year but what is the forecast for the economy in 2014? and its lights out for the country's most popular bulbs when the "cbs evening news" continues.
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>> 1.3 million americans lost their long term unemployment benefits yesterday and the white house says 4.9 million will see those benefits run out by the end of 2014 without an extension. with more on what that means for the economy and more as we approach the new area we're joined by cbs news business analyst jill schlesinger. always good to see you. this amounted to $300 a week for these people. what does it mean for the economy. >> without them making that $300 we give less money to spend. not good news for the
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economy. we're expecting economic growth to expand by 2 toy 5% in the first quarter. with the reduction there these benefits we're expecting that that is going to be reduced by maybe 3/10 of a percent. so it doesn't seem like a huge number but it did impactful. >> jeff: the markets moved in a huge way in 2013. the s&p was up 29%, the nasdaq was up 37%, that can't continue in 2014. >> we would presume not. but lack, there is a bigger picture going on here. why is the stock market up so much? we just said the economy is to the growing that fast, right. so you say well, what is going on here. well, the federal reserve has kept interest rates so low for so long that investors basically said i'm get paid 0% to own an asset like cash or a bond. i might as well buy stocks. since march 2009 when the stock market bottomed out after the recession we are up about 160, 165 percent. it has been tremendous. >> jeff: meanwhile the bond market, interest rates are rising, what does that mean? >> well, you know, it's kind of good if you are a saver because maybe eventually you'll get paid a little more for the money you have in the bank.
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it's not great news if you want to borrow money but that said, interest rates are still very low. we would expect that the housing market is going to see price gains slow down. we've seen amazing gains in the housing market, 12%% year-over-year, i think next year 5% because of those higher mortgage raitts but don't get spooked, these are still relatively very low-interest rates. >> jeff: thank you very much, happy new year. >> happy new year. >> jeff: just ahead, new year, new laws from higher minimum wages to marijuana sold in colorado stores.
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>> jeff: the number of new laws are on the books as we ent err the new year. starting january 1st, 13
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states raised the minimum wage, most increases are not large, the biggest boost is in new jersey where the minimum wage jumps a dollar to 8.25 an hour. washington state will have the highest minimum wage at 9.32 an hour. colorado on wednesday becomes the first state to allow the sale of recreational marijuana. a voter approved amendment has already made pot sales legal starting january 1st, res departments can buy it from approved retail stores. sales will be tacked. expect a new look in stores next time you buy a light bulb. less energy efficient 40 and 60 watt incandescent bulbs will no longer be imported to or produced in the u.s. in the new year. stores can still sell left over stock. home depot expects to run out of the old bulbs by the middle of this coming year. and in illinois starting on january 1st, anyone younger than 18 will be banned from using tanning facilities. governor pat quinn signed the bill in auchlingt he said he hoped to spare young people from the consequences of dangerous habits that start early.
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>> for years their service has been forgotten. the parade of roses will change that. the story of the women flyers known as wsaps, that's coming up next.
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>> jeff: rosie the rivet err was a powerful symbol of working women in the second world war but rent real, a recruiting poster. then women polite-- pilots ass will to the front lines as women could get. carter evans reports these unsung heroes will be-erred at the parade of roses on new area's day. >> i think i was born wanting to fly.
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>> he lease stef eps rohrer earned her wings a as a women air force service pilot, one of a thousand who flew in the second world war. >> a lot of it was patriotism, of course. a lot of it is we can help the country by doing what we like best to do. and that was fly airplanes. >> reporter: it was dangerous work. 38 were killed. once the war ended, the wasps were disband. >> i wanted to go on flying but there were no jobs for women then. >> reporter: so alyce became a history teacher. but ironically. i wasn't in the books, nowhere in the books, any of the history books. i don't think anybody wants to be just thoroughly ig nored. and that's the way it was with us. >> reporter: there had been promises by their commanders of military honors. but a bill in congress in 1945 to do just that was mired in politics.
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full recognition finally came in 2009, with a congressional gold medal and this week with a float in the tournament of roses parade. >> it has an aircraft on it, i think most of the wasps feel the same way about it, it's our favorite. >> they were breaking new ground. >> albert lewis's mother was a wsap. he organized and raised money to build the float. >> this is a chance for people to really put it into their minds what these women were able to accomplish and what women now can accomplish. >> it's very inspirational. >> lesley kays came to volunteer along with her girl scout troop. a generation where now the sky's the limit. >> they can be astronauts. they can be pilots. and these bim really paved the way for them. not just the float. it's history. >> living history. >> but most reft maining wasps are now in their 90s. and as nice as it is to ride in the rose parade, alyce with give anything tore just one more flight. >> if i were capable, i
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would take one of those planes up again right now. but i can't see well enough to land. >> but history's vision of the wasps is now clear. carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> jeff: the countdown is on to 2014. there is a new crystal ball and quite a story to tell about the square where it is dropped. that is next.
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>> jeff: u.s. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor will lead the 62nd countdown to 2014 in new york's times square this week. organizers expect a million people will be there when the 59-year-old bronc native flips the switch to start the ball drop. as terrell brown tells us, it's a tradition with a fascinating past. >> here it is. this is the largest crystal ball in the world. we're getting ready for new year's eve. we just installed all of the 2,688 waterford crystals with a new pattern, check it
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out. >> every year the ball tells a different story, jeff strauss president of countdown entertainment is excited about this year's theme, the gift of imagination. >> one was imagined by a young girl, 12-year-old girl at st. jude's research hospital. and this was her design which is a rose app it was her message of hope and beauty and positiveness for the new year. >> reporter: new this year fans can follow the 6 ton ball on twitter at times square ball. >> the ball actually tweets and we have people all over the world, 180 countries will participate by twaeting with the ball, watching our webcast and counting down with us at midnight. >> the tradition of the ball drop began more than a century ago. architect turity historian gwendolyn wright. >> it used to be called long acre square in the 19th century and it was a place of actually making carriages but also a red light district. >> strauss says the very first celebration was a publicity stunt by the publisher of "the new york times" in 1904. >> the first two years they had fireworks but they ra rain down on the people below burning their heads so
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they had a new idea. they used a maritime tra diftion lowering a time ball at noon, with a new technology of light bulb to create a lighted time ball that would drop at midnight to mark the beginning of a new year. >> it is estimated there were 200,000 people at that first ball drop there 1907, that was a pretty large number within the audience has grown considerably since then. >> there are a million people in times square, over 150 million americans will be counting with us. and over a billion people around the world will see this live or on news coverage. >> then worldwide audience makes this 25 story building the most valuable property for advertising in the world. >> terrell brown, cbs news. >> that is the "cbs evening news" tonight. later on cbs, "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. good night captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org
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life support. there's unfortunately no amount of prayer that can bring her back. >> time is running out for alaska oakland family frantically trying to keep their daughter on life support. a crash voling a bay area fire truck sent two people to the hospital, including a firefighter. >> drastically dry weather is the perfect storm for endangered salmon. >> kpix5 news is next. ,,,,,,,,
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for the 13-year- old. children's hospital oakland could take her off life sup as soon as tomorrow. . a family with just hours left to decide what is next for the 13-year-old: chin'

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